Inspiring Your Art: Broken

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places”  –Ernest Hemingway

This week I’d like you to consider this quote by Ernest Hemingway, from “A Call to Arms.” I’ve always liked this quote—it really resonates with me. But I confess I’ve never really considered using it as inspiration for my art. So I thought I’d change that!

Aside from personal struggles, this quote brings to mind Kintsugi, which is a Japanese method of pottery repair that uses gold to accentuate the broken edges of the repair. This technique has its roots in the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which emphasizes seeing the beauty in the flawed or imperfect. I’ve always liked that philosophy too. It kind of cries out “Look at me! I was broken, but I fixed myself! And I’m even better than before!”

Kintsugi on 16th century tea bowl. Image by Daderot – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45589849

So my goal right now is to take this quote and create a piece of art based on it. I’ll share the piece when I’m done and I invite you to do the same!

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